The Virtuous Queens Foundation Annual Conference for the year 2026 was held on Friday, 1st May, at the LCCI Conference & Exhibition Centre, CBD, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos State.

The 2026 Conference with the theme; ‘The Virtues In You,’ began with a welcome address by President of the Foundation, Queen Maryam Barde.

>Photo:Founder and Convener of the Foundation, Queen Bose Banji-Idowu with President, Queen Maryam Barde at the Conference. —

Queen Barde, while speaking with her colleagues and other participants; underscored the importance of the Foundation.

According to her, the Virtuous Queens Foundation is blessed with women of integrity who have high degree of inward characters to make positive impacts in the society.

Barrister (Queen) Rose Hamis, who delivered the first topic at the session; ‘The Virtues In You’, spoke extensively about the qualities of a Virtuous woman.

Photo:Barrister (Queen) Rose Hamis: delivering her topic during the conference in Ikeja. —

Queen Rose Hamis continued; “As Virtuous Queens, we should understand what real virtue is. Let me break it down; having the courage to do things right, speaking even when the voice trembles and acting despite fear.

Photo:Members of the Virtuous Queens Foundation listening to the Speaker during the conference. —

“Also, as Virtuous Queens, choosing the truth and taking challenges through new beginnings should be our watchwords.”

The second Speaker, Queen Bolatito Farombi (JP), spoke to the participants at the Conference about discovering their purpose in life.

Why purpose? Queen Farombi said; “When you are doing things that align with your purpose as a woman of impact. You need to look inwards, be a woman of influence and empower people around you, all these can happen if you understand your skill and purpose.”

Another Speaker, Dr. Tolu Fagorala, who addressed the participants on ‘Women’s Health Awareness’, cautioned the women on the dangers of Female Cancers.

Fagorala said: “Women should take their health seriously, because cancer is prevalent and early detection saves the life of victims.”

According to her, “Many women have cancer and they don’t even know. The scourge is real. The type of cancer that kill a lot of women include; Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Vaginal Cancer, Vulval Cancer and the most dangerous of them… Ovarian Cancer.

Photo:Dr. Fagorala (middle) with the Executives of Virtuous Queens Foundation during their Annual Conference on Friday, 1st May, 2026. —

“How to detect these types of Cancer is regular check-up, once it is detected, you should go for treatment immediately. There are also symptoms like when you observe lumps or changes in the size of your breasts… this is a dangerous signal that requires an urgent attention.”

The Doctor noted that some women who have cancer, sometimes die in silence because of limited access to quality medicare, cultural beliefs, stigma and atimes fear of diagnosis.

Fagorala itemized the benefits of early detection of the killer cancers; saying: “This increases timely and chances of successful treatment, it reduces mortality rates, the treatments are less expensive, thus improving the quality of lives.”

Queen Bose Banji-Idowu, while speaking to round off the conference, gave an Overview of the Virtuous Queens Foundation.

Queen Bose Banji-Idowu said her passion for the girl child brought about the Foundation, revealing that this was her childhood dream.

Bose Banji-Idowu said: “I know what I faced during my days as a young girl, especially abusive behaviours from the opposite sex. Although, I navigated through it with the help of God and personal discipline, but I know that many young girls will be in such situations these days and they need help.”

Photo:The Virtuous Queens Foundation members during the cake-cutting session to round off the 2026 conference.—

“That’s why we exist in the Virtuous Queens Foundation, to make a great impact on that girl in our neighborhood. We have many of those girls around us, who we can throw some light into so they can have fulfilling lives,” Bose Banji-Idowu said.

Before the conference was closed for this year, side attractions such as networking, group photographs and cutting of cake took place amidst refreshments, music and dance.